Media Centre - Press releases

Keep Me Posted EU is a campaign promoting the citizen’s right to choose how they receive important information – paper, digital or both, without being penalised. This information includes tax forms, election documents as well as bills and statements from service providers. It is not an anti-digital campaign but a pro-citizen-choice campaign promoting the inclusion of vulnerable consumers at European level.

Central to the campaign is the Keep Me Posted EU Pledge, which European organisations and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are called upon to adopt.1 The launch of this campaign could not be timelier as research shows that in 2013 a remarkable 21% of European households still had no internet access.

Since its creation in July of this year, the campaign has rapidly gathered momentum. It has secured the support of consumer groups and organisations representing citizens that may be disadvantaged by a lack of choice or simply do not agree with the fact that choice has been taken away from them.

The growing list of supporters includes European consumer organisations, European associations representing older citizens and the disabled as well as unions. The print value chain is represented by FEPE, PostEurop, CEPI, EuPIA and Intergraf.

Béatrice Klose, Secretary General of Intergraf is very encouraged by the progress made in such a short time: “The fact that we have gained so many enthusiastic partners since start-up shows that there is a genuine need and desire for this type of initiative. We are confident that more partners will join us as the campaign’s message spreads.”

Today marks the launch of the campaign’s website www.keepmepostedeu.org. It is regularly updated with news on developments in European countries regarding the trend to push citizens towards entirely paperless communication and efforts to support citizen choice. Users can subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed on the campaign’s progress, research concerning consumers’ preferences and developments across Europe. Supporters of the initiative are encouraged to get involved in a variety of ways including petitioning MEPs and service providers and sharing personal experiences.

The EU campaign is inspired by a similar initiative in the UK. Drawing on his experience from the Keep Me Posted UK campaign, David Gold, Head of Public Affairs at Royal Mail explains further how the campaign can even benefit the organisations that are being targeted: “Service providers are now starting to see the merit of being associated with this type of campaign. With 81% of adults wanting to choose how they receive information, giving consumers a choice in how they are communicated with, rather than pushing customers online by default, is not only the right thing to do, but better for their business.”

In 2015 the campaign will be launched publicly with an event at the European Parliament encouraging its members to sign the pledge.

The World Economic Forum’s project on the circular economy (Project MainStream) has chosen the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) to contribute to one of the project’s three pilots for advancing circular thinking.

“An excellent track record, the right mindset of wanting to continuously raise the bar and world class knowledge in recycling were the reasons for which Project MainStream chose the CEPI pilot as a contibutor”, says Johnson Yeh, Head of Circular Economy Initiatives at the World Economic Forum.

The pilot’s objective is to consolidate existing pieces of design tools into a set of user-friendly, universal ecodesign rules for all value added elements of the paper and board value chain. The pilot, running from January 2015 for 12 months, intends to create a self-enforcing mechanism of speedy adoption of new ecodesign rules, thanks to commitments by businesses.

The World Economic Forum’s Project MainStream was launched in January this year, during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.The project will enable annual savings of up to $10bn for the value chain, according to World Economic Forum estimations.

“Paper is a perfect place for Project MainStream to start, given paper’s currently high recycling rate and complete infrastructure for recycling. By establishing proof-of-concept with ecodesign rules for paper, the same lesson can be applied to other materials,” says Yeh.

Although originally 100% recyclable, paper is converted by many downstream industries adding auxiliary materials, such as tapes, adhesives and printing inks. These materials will later return to paper recycling mills when closing the loop, as they cannot be sorted from paper in the dry-sorting steps before they reach paper mills. “Simple ecodesign rules for paper products would give the essential guidance for designers and developers without limiting innovation and hampering the introduction of new techniques. This would be a system-level approach, identifying the root cause and preventing problems”, says Jori Ringman, Sustainability Director at CEPI.

The goal of a circular economy is to move towards a resource efficient use of materials throughout the life cycle, beyond production and consumption. In a circular economy, collected waste and by-products become new raw materials. Whereas the European paper industry has already achieved very high recycling rates of 72%, a more systemic approach supported by ecodesign will allow further improvement of the performance in the sector. “Ecodesign could reduce the overall fibre need as well as improve the safe recycling of fibres, while improving opportunities for reusing water and by-streams of the paper and paperboard process in industrial symbiosis”, says Ringman.

The proposed project is also linked to other global sustainability initiatives, notably Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and to Sound Material Management (SMM) policies.

CEPI aisbl - The Confederation of European Paper Industries
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. Through its 18 member countries (17 European Union members plus Norway) CEPI represents some 515 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe, ranging from small and medium sized companies to multi-nationals, and 940 paper mills. Together they represent 23% of world production.

The European pulp and paper industry successfully concluded its 16th European Paper Week, titled “It’s all about competitiveness”. The three-day event brought together over 350 participants from the sector, related organisations as well as the European institutions, providing a high-level discussion and networking platform.

Sessions not only dealt with the competitiveness of industry, but also the overall competitiveness of the EU economy. Energy costs and regulatory burden were key themes.

The focus of the Juncker Commission on jobs, growth and competitiveness is crucial for Europe. “This week showed the new European Commission launching a 300 billion euro investment package, putting a focus on better regulation and assessing the member states’ budgets. We call upon the European Commission to follow these actions with a new single project for Europe – Competitiveness,” said Gary McGann, CEPI (Confederation of European Paper Industries) chairman.

CEPI launched its PACT with EU policy makers, a call for cooperation with the Juncker Commission. It underlines the industry’s 5 billion euro investments in Europe over the next three years and the strong need for adequate policymaking to enable this.

CEPI further announced its participation in a joint project on ecodesign for paper products with the prestigious World Economic Forum.

Throughout the event, the industry reaffirmed its positioning as a strategic sector playing an active role in the bioeconomy. The sector remains focused on innovation as the way forward. Renowned economist Professor Mariana Mazzucato enticed a packed audience with her views on the government’s role in innovation, or the “entepreuneurial state”.

”Following the CEPI 2050 roadmap and Two Team project last year, we have helped build the bio-based industries Public Private Partnership and launched consortia to develop the Two Team concepts. Professor Mazzucato shows us the next step ahead – the design of EU innovation policy, post 2020,” said Marco Mensink, CEPI Director General.

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Presentations and Photos will be available on Monday, 1 December 2014 at www.cepi.org/epw

About European Paper Week
European Paper Week is one of the most important and respected events of the pulp and paper industry. It brings together key players and representatives from across the industry, related sectors and the European institutions, providing an annual platform for high-level debate on the issues that really matter to the paper industry. Its success has been reflected in its growing attendance. This year the event took place in the Thon Hotel EU in Brussels.
Twitter: @EUPaperWeek #epw14

CEPI aisbl - The Confederation of European Paper Industries
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. Through its 18 member countries (17 European Union members plus Norway) CEPI represents some 515 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe, ranging from small and medium sized companies to multi-nationals, and 950 paper mills. Together they represent 23% of world production.

Today, September 8, is International Literacy Day, through which UNESCO highlights the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) is proud to represent the contributions of the global forest products industry to increased literacy around the world.

“Reading skills and strategies are not simply tied to the written word, but are also intimately tied to the medium of paper,” said ICFPA President Donna Harman. “Over the years, paper has proven to be a particularly potent learning tool and continues to be the most effective medium for reading.”

Research has shown that paper-based materials promote reading comprehension, information retention and learning, and that print-based texts are superior to digital texts in facilitating learning strategies.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national forest and paper associations around the world. Together, ICFPA members represent over 90 percent of global paper production and more than half of global wood production.

For more information about the sustainability of the global forest and paper industry, visit icfpa.org.

CEPI aisbl - The Confederation of European Paper Industries
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. CEPI is a member of the ICFPA.

StepChange Consulting platinum sponsor

Today, registrations for this year’s European Paper Week are open. The networking event of the year for the pulp and paper industry will take place 25-27 November in Brussels at the EU Thon Hotel under the theme ‘It’s all about Competitiveness’. Throughout three days industry representatives, suppliers and experts from the EU will come together to discuss the latest strategic issues and challenges facing the pulp and paper industry.

CEPI is happy to announce that StepChange Consulting will be this year’s platinum sponsor. StepChange is an industry-focused independent management consulting company with a proven track record in helping clients grow profitably and achieve sustainable value. StepChange provides support to top-tier organisations in the industry, from strategy development to implementation of operational improvements.

“We are very excited to be sponsoring the European Paper Week as we are fully dedicated to the industry,” says Joachim Klein, Managing Director of StepChange Consulting.

StepChange Consulting’s support for the European Paper Week 2014 shows the high importance of the event for the sector and highlights their commitment to the pulp and paper industry. “The sponsorship will bring a new dimension to the event and we look forward to working with them”, says CEPI Director General Marco Mensink.

European Paper Week is open to paper industry stakeholders. The main events include the CEPI annual meeting and networking dinner as well as seminars on current topics of interest:

• Competitiveness in a circular economy
• On the road to 2030: the impact of the Climate & Energy package on the pulp and paper industry
• New Ideas for the paper industry – Young researchers’ presentations (in collaboration with EFPRO)

The CEPI annual meeting will offer an analysis of the new European Parliament and Commission. We will also welcome a much respected speaker in the academic world: Professor Mariana Mazzucato, who will be speaking about industrial growth and her book on the entrepreneurial state, exploring the leading role that the State plays as a prime investor and creator of the next great innovations. Awarded journalist Stephen Sackur from the BBC will be moderating the event.

For more information with regards to the European Paper Week, please contact Daniela Haiduc, CEPI Communications and Public Affairs Manager at +32 2 627 49 15 or d.haiduc@cepi.org.

Note to the author

About European Paper Week
European Paper Week is one of the most important and respected highlights of the pulp and paper industry calendar. It brings together key players and representatives from across industry, related sectors and the European institutions, providing an annual platform for high-level debate on the issues that really matter to the paper industry. Its success has been reflected in its growing attendance. This year the event takes place in the Thon Hotel EU in the centre of Brussels, Belgium.
Twitter: @EUPaperWeek #epw14
Website: www.cepi.org/epw

About StepChange Consulting
StepChange is an industry focused and independent management consulting company with a proven track record in supporting clients to achieve sustainable value. StepChange provides support to top tier organizations in the industry from strategy development to implementation of operational improvements. With our international team of industry experts we hit the ground running. We provide innovative and yet pragmatic solutions, placing an emphasis on delivering measurable business results. Our focus on results enables us to offer success based fee structures.
Website: www.stepchange.com/about.html

EU and industry leaders have today launched a new European Joint Undertaking on Bio-based Industries (BBI). The aim is to trigger investments and create a competitive market for bio-based products and materials sourced locally and "Made in Europe", tackling some of Europe’s biggest societal challenges.

€3.7 billion will be injected into the European economy between 2014 and 2024 - €975 million from the European Commission and €2.7 billion from the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) - to develop an emerging bioeconomy sector. Through financing of research and innovation projects, the BBI will create new and novel partnerships across sectors, such as agriculture, agro-food, technology providers, forestry/pulp and paper, chemicals and energy.

The aim of the BBI is to use Europe's untapped biomass and wastes as feedstock to make fossil-free and greener everyday products. At the heart of it are advanced biorefineries and innovative technologies that will convert renewable resources into sustainable bio-based chemicals, materials and fuels.

Organised in five value chains – that range from primary production to consumer markets – the BBI will help fill the innovation gap between technology development and commercialisation, sustainably realising the potential of bio-based industries in Europe.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: "The bioeconomy has huge potential that is attracting investments all around the world. With this new partnership, we want to harness innovative technologies to convert Europe’s untapped renewable resources and waste into greener everyday products such as food, feed, chemicals, materials and fuels, all sourced and made in Europe."

Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO of Novozymes, added on behalf of industry partner, the Bio-based Industries Consortium: “The BBI is an unprecedented public-private commitment because of its focus on bringing bio-based solutions to the market. It is an opportunity to deliver sustainable growth in European regions and to reverse the investment trend currently going to other regions of the world.”

The BBI is a shift from a fossil- and imports-based society to increase Europe’s share of sustainable economic growth, and is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs (80% in rural areas), revitalise industries, diversify farmers’ incomes, and reduce GHG emissions by at least 50% in comparison to fossil-based applications.

The BBI will manage the investments in the form of research and innovation projects that are defined in annual Calls for Proposals and implemented across European regions. In line with Horizon 2020 rules, all stakeholders are invited to submit innovative proposals and demonstrate progress beyond state-of-the-art.

First BBI Call for Proposals focuses on high potential / high impact investments

Also launched today is the BBI’s first Call for Proposals. It is a €50 million Call (not including industry contributions, which are expected to reach up to €100 million) that is a first step in a long-term strategy that will deliver tangible social, economic and environmental results. The Call contains a total of 16 topics:

10 Research and Innovation Actions with a total budget of €15 million;

6 Innovation Actions (5 Demo and 1 Flagship) with a total budget of €35 million.

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Note to the Editor

About the BBI
BBI stands for Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking. It is a €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC).
The BBI is dedicated to realising the European bioeconomy potential, turning biological residues and wastes into greener everyday products through innovative technologies and biorefineries, which are at the heart of the bioeconomy.
The BBI is about connecting key sectors, creating new value chains and producing a range of innovative bio-based products to ultimately form a new bio-based community and economy.

The partners
The European Commission is the public partner in the PPP. It will support the BBI with a contribution of € 975 million from Horizon 2020, the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation from 2014 to 2020. The activities of the BBI will complement the activities funded under Horizon 2020 and seek to establish synergies where relevant.
The Bio-based Industries Consortium - the industrial partner in the PPP - is constituted by a unique mix of sectors including agriculture, agro-food, technology providers, forestry/pulp and paper, chemicals and energy. It is an association that was established in 2012 to collectively represent the private sector in the BBI. To date, BIC has 70 full industrial members (large, SMEs, clusters) and over 100 associate members (RTOs, universities, associations, technology platforms). And it is still growing.
BIC will support the BBI with a contribution of € 2.7 billion, of which € 975 million will be used to support research and innovation activities, and another € 1.7 will be provided in the form of additional activities.

Funding projects
The BBI will fund projects aimed at:
• Building new value chains based on the development of sustainable biomass collection and supply systems with increased productivity and improved utilisation of biomass feedstock (incl. co- and by-products);
• Unlocking the utilisation and valorisation of waste and lignocellulosic biomass;
• Bringing existing value chains to new levels, through optimised uses of feedstock and industrial side-streams while offering innovative added value products to the market, thus creating a market pull and reinforcing the competitiveness of EU agriculture and forest-based industries.
• Bringing technology to maturity through research and innovation, by upgrading and building demonstration and flagship biorefineries that will process the biomass into a range of innovative bio-based products.

On the occasion of the adoption of the EU Circular Economy Package (“Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe”) by the European Commission, four EU recycling industries are committing to work together and pursue the common goal of promoting circular economy.

The four recycling industries include the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), the EU Non-ferrous Metals Industry Association (Eurometaux), Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) and the Groupement Européen de l'Industrie de la Régénération (GEIR). The four industries welcome a number of proposals included in the package such as: the progressive landfill ban on recyclable waste, better reporting of data, new requirements on waste exports to fight against illegal shipments of waste, the link between innovation and ambitious recycling targets.

While the Package is a right step forward in promoting recycling, the four recycling industries believe that a number of elements included in the package require further clarification:

- The proposed definition of recycling is too broad; it can create confusion with collection, sorting or pre-processing, while it should be clearly defined to favour high quality processing/recovery of materials so as to contribute to resource efficiency and a sustainable access to valuable materials. The absence of a robust recycling definition can lead to recycling targets miscalculation. The proposed change in the methodology to calculate recycling rates should serve ambitious targets but also consider industrial reality.

- The reference to high quality recycling, while very valuable, focuses too much on quantity and not enough supporting higher quality collection, sorting and recycling of the various types of materials. A more product centric approach to recycling which considers the entity of raw materials in specific product groups is recommended.

- End of waste status: the concept of quality treatment and recycling should be applied here too. If waste reaching end-of-waste status is simply exported outside the EU with no guarantee of quality treatment, the status will not contribute to the EU circular economy.

- Ambitious collection and recycling targets can be an important driver for increasing recycling levels. As an example, for waste oils, EU-wide recycling and collection targets should be introduced. Re-refining waste oils to base oils contributes to the EU circular economy and is a technically feasible way to manage this hazardous waste stream.

Note to the editor:
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit making organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing this industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. Its mission is to promote the members’ business sector by taking specific actions notably, by monitoring and analysing activities and initiatives in the areas of industry, environment, energy, forestry, recycling, fiscal policies and competitiveness in general. Through CEPI, the paper industry increases its visibility and acts on emerging issues, making expert and constructive contributions on behalf of the industry.
Website: www.cepi.org

Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) promotes plastics recycling and creates conditions that enable profitable & sustainable business while offering a service platform to its members. Currently Plastics Recyclers Europe has more than 115 members from all over the EU which are recycling more than 2.5 million tones of plastics waste.
Website: www.plasticsrecyclers.eu

GEIR (Groupement Européen de l'Industrie de la Régénération) is the European Re-refining Industry association. Used lubricating oils represent the largest amount of liquid, non-aqueous hazardous waste in the world. Today the European waste oil recycling industry is comprised of 28 plants and employs between 1000-1200 in re-refining and 2000-2500 people in the collection of waste oil. Seventeen of the plants produce base oils. The industry has a total nameplate capacity of 1.300.000 tonnes/year, total lube oil production of 400.000t/y and produces 500.000 t/y of other products including fuels, asphalt, gasoil, flux oil etc. It has an approximate total turnover of between € 200-250 million/year.
Website: www.geir-rerefining.org

The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) released today its 2013 Key Statistics, drawing a clear picture of the industry’s performance last year. The report includes data about production, consumption and the trade of pulp, paper and raw materials, as well as data on energy and environment.

CEPI members produced 91.1 million tonnes of paper and board in 2013. This is a decrease of 1.2% (1.1 million tonnes) compared to 2012. 2013 is the third consecutive year paper and board production has declined, since the rebound registered in 2010. Total pulp production fell by 2.2% but market pulp output increased by 1.3%. On a positive note, CEPI countries maintained a positive trade balance for paper and board (exports exceeding imports) of 14.8 million tonnes.

The contraction in paper and board production observed in 2013 results from the structural decline in graphic paper consumption in combination with the on-going growth of paper and board packaging and household and sanitary paper. The good performance of the latter two sectors only partly offsets the erosion the graphic paper sector is currently experiencing.

The graphic paper sector share of all paper and board produced in Europe dropped to 41.9% in 2013. In contrast, the share of the packaging grades and sanitary and household papers is continuously growing and in 2013 represented 45.9% and 7.7% respectively of all paper and board produced in Europe.

On the whole, the pulp and paper industry continues to suffer from the slow economic recovery. In 2013, weak economic conditions highly affected the consumption of paper and board. Indeed, EU GDP registered a low 0.1% increase (-0.4% in 2012: source Eurostat). In addition, total paper deliveries fell by 1.2% compared to 2012, as a result of reduced domestic consumption (- 1.5%) and a less dynamic export market (-1.2%). Paper imports also fell more than 5%.

CEPI commissioned Ernst & Young to issue a limited assurance statement on the data quality rating that CEPI carried out on its core indicators in the statistics report. The limited assurance statement is available on the CEPI website at: http://www.cepi.org/topics/statistics

#END#

You can download the report in pdf format on the CEPI website at www.cepi.org/topics/statistics or request your own paper copy by sending an email to mail@cepi.org.

More detailed statistical information is available to non-CEPI members by subscription.

Today the European Commission adopted the EU Circular Economy Package (“Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe). The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) welcomes the inclusion of landfill bans for recyclables by the Commission, but regrets that the package omits six essential points including incineration restrictions.

1. Still no restriction on incineration of recyclable paper
CEPI welcomes the fact that the Circular Economy Package includes landfill restrictions for recyclables as of 2025, but regrets that incineration for the same materials is not restricted. Despite the existing capacity for reprocessing paper in Europe up to 10 million tonnes of paper is currently being landfilled or incinerated in Europe.

2. Targets based on robust data and robust methods
CEPI is concerned about the way the Commission sets new recycling targets and a new calculation method without having tested them on current recycling performances first. Recycling targets in Europe should not discriminate between competing materials and the level of ambition for recycling targets needs to be set realistically.

“The new recycling targets are based on the best performing EU member states although recycling rates from these states are not comparable. Current calculation methods for recycling vary between countries.” explains Jori Ringman, CEPI Recycling, Product and Environment Director.

3. Collection targets
The paper industry calls for EU-wide minimum collection targets for recyclable materials to support high recycling and re-use targets in Europe. As EU legislation already obliges EU member states to collect at least paper, metal, plastic and glass separately by 2015, collection targets would provide an incentive to fulfil this requirement and secure a constant supply of raw materials for the European economy.

4. Recycling based on proximity
The Circular Economy Package should include a proximity principle to ensure that recycling will take place as close as possible to the consumption and collection points in Europe. This will enhance the circular economy by guaranteeing a faster recycling cycle and delivering more value with less input.

5. Recycling ‘Made in Europe’
To advance the circular economy, the definition of recycling in Europe needs to be revised. At the moment, the definition is vague and does not support good quality data collection nor reprocessing of materials.

6. A stronger focus on renewability
In nature, circularity equals renewability. The European paper industry regrets that the Commission does not acknowledge renewability of materials as a solution for the circular economy.

As the European paper industry is based on renewable raw materials and accomplished a world record paper recycling rate of almost 72% in 2013, it is at the core of the circular economy.

CEPI aisbl - The Confederation of European Paper Industries
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. Through its 18 member countries (17 European Union members plus Norway) CEPI represents some 515 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe, ranging from small and medium sized companies to multi-nationals, and 780 paper mills. Together they represent 23% of world production.

Organisations involved in paper recycling discuss European best practices

Experts on paper recycling met on 24 June in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. The conference focused on European best practices aimed at improving local selective collection and paper recycling performances.

More than 80 top paper recycling professionals followed the invitation from the IMPACT project group to attend the Conference entitled ‘Circular Economy – How to improve paper collection in Poland?’ on 24 June in Warsaw, Poland. The conference was followed by a visit to the newly opened Stora Enso Ostroleka mill the next day, to show paper making hands on.

SPP - the Association of Polish Papermakers was represented by their Director General Mr Zbigniew Fornalski. He expressed the hope that “this conference will kick-off a more permanent dialogue between all Polish municipalities, waste management companies and paper makers to make the best use of our available raw materials and properly prepare Poland for the circular economy”.

Jolanta Krzywiec, Director of Municipal Waste Management in the Department of Warsaw, introduced the new waste management system in Warsaw. “The municipality in Warsaw is doing their utmost to improve paper collection and ensuring a constant high quality level of this valuable raw material for the paper industry“, stressed Mrs Krzywiec. Mr Krzysztof Kawczyński - Chairman for the Committee for the Protection of the Environment in the National Chamber of Commerce introduced the new waste recycling regulation in Poland.

Several best practice cases from countries around Europe gave valuable examples to local municipalities in Poland on how to step up paper collection and recycling quality in the country. Especially the example from Aspapel – the Spanish paper industry association – showed how in a short period of time educational campaigns on paper recycling can be a very effective tool to improve recycling rates in a country.

“Paper needs to be collected separately from other waste streams to maintain a consistent quality and achieve high recycling targets and bring the current Polish recycling rate to the EU average“, explains Ulrich Leberle from the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI).
The workshop was the kick-off of the IMPACT committment -of which CEPI is a member- aiming to achieve the European Innovation Partnernship's objectives. IMPACT partners hope to organise similar events in other countries aiming to improve their paper recycling rates in the future. CEPI is also part of a European Recovered Paper Council that has pledged to improve paper recycling in Europe.

The conference was a satellite meeting as part of a larger European Commission event on resource efficiency and the circular economy - the Greenweek. Greenweek takes place every year in Brussels and attracts thousands of participants from all over Europe with an interest in the environment.

IMPACT - Introduction and Improvement of Separate Paper Collection to avoid landfilling and incineration
The partners of IMPACT will offer municipalities best practices and advice in the separate collection of paper from the municipal waste stream (mainly households and small shops) to support them in phasing out landfilling and incineration. Targeted municipalities are in regions with paper recycling rates below 60%, particularly Poland (38.5%) and Romania (53.5%), as well as areas where commingled collection is pre-dominant such as in France and in the United Kingdom. In the second half, the project will be extended to other countries with low collection rates or predominance of comingled collection. The diversion of recyclable paper from landfilling will help local authorities meet the targets of the EU landfill directive. EU Member States highly depending on landfill have to respect a target to reduce the share of biodegradable waste going to landfill to 35% by 2020.
Webpage: www.cepi.org/impact

Greenweek
The 2014 edition of Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environment policy it takes place in Brussels under the theme Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency & Waste. Satellite events are taking place all around in May/June 2014 at local or regional level.
All information at http://www.greenweek2014.eu/index.html
The Association of Polish Papermakers (SPP)
The Association of Polish Papermakers is an organization of scientific, technical and managerial qualities with individual and corporate members whose activities are connected with the paper and paper converting industries. an organization of scientific, technical and managerial qualities with individual and corporate members whose activities are connected with the paper and paper converting industries. The association members represent near 80% of polish paper production and significant part of corrugated board market.
The purposes of SPP activity are:
• to integrate papermakers, preserve association tradition and document papermaking history and also create professional ethics among the members, amicable solidarity and mutual remembrance,
• to represent papermakers on the forum of the governmental and local administration organs,
• to create conditions for versatile exchange of information and options on current and future needs of the paper industry and related branches, particularly concerning production quality and quantity, new products, raw materials and intermediates, machine and equipment performance, control and automation of manufacturing processes, power engineering, environmental protection, paper trade, economic, organizational and marketing issues and personnel training.
More information available at http://www.spp.pl

Warsaw municipality
Warsaw, the capital of Poland Warsaw is a major international tourist destination and an important economic hub in Central Europe. Warsaw is a green city. Since 2006, Warsaw has been hosting Recycling Days – a picnic event, during which unwanted materials, such as electronic junk, etc. is collected. In exchange for plastic bottles and used batteries one can obtain geranium seedlings, herbs or garden conifers.
Today Warsaw is revolutionizing its system of segregation, collection, treatment and recycling of waste. The new rules will mean less waste going to landfill, with far more resources being recovered and used again. The new sorting system is accompanied by a broad campaign to inform and educate the public. Warsaw is organising a multitude of environmental initiatives, as the names of selected projects prove: Festival of Trees, Earth Hour, Climate Day Picnic and Car-Free Day. In November 2013 Warsaw hosted the UN Conference on Climate Change. Organization of this summit in Poland’s capital means that Poland is holding the Presidency of the climate convention from November 2013 to November 2014. Warsaw is the only city in Poland and after Berlin, the second in Central Europe to cooperate under the C40 Large Cities Leadership Group towards Climate Change. Cooperation also takes place within the Clinton Climate Initiative organization and the Eurocities association. These activities result in the implementation of specific programs - thermo-modernization of public buildings, energy efficient street lighting, and the launching of environmentally friendly practices with regard to water, wastewater and waste management. Warsaw’s Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz is the president of Eurocities – a network for cooperation between Europe’s metropolises.

CEPI aisbl - The Confederation of European Paper Industries
The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation regrouping the European pulp and paper industry and championing industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. Through its 18 member countries (17 European Union members plus Norway) CEPI represents some 520 pulp, paper and board producing companies across Europe, ranging from small and medium sized companies to multi-nationals, and 950 paper mills. Together they represent 23% of world production.
Paper recycling: www.paperforrecycling.eu
Resource efficiency: www.cepi.org/resourceefficiency
Website: http://www.cepi.org/ mail@cepi.org Connect with us: @EuropeanPaper